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Marketing Shelter Pets

Written by Mia McKenzieJuly, 2012

Shelter pets are more than  just shelter pets. They are

individuals, they have different behaviours, they

range from new born to seniors, they have a variety

of intelligence and ability, some come with siblings

or mates and they come in all shapes and sizes. But

what these animals have in common, is that they are

all seeking an owner.

Marketing a product is about understanding what

 people want. Australians purchase over 600,000 dogs

and cats every year, so Australians primarily want

dogs and cats to buy.

Advertising your shelter is not marketing. It is a small

 portion of what makes up marketing, but alone, it does

not equal more sales. It does allow the public to be

aware of your shelter, but if they do not trust your 

advertising, you are wasting money that can go

towards life saving programs.

Over decades, the RSPCA and AWL advertise their 

company names, but rarely do they market their 

 product – the dogs and cats that are seeking an owner.

As Australia's major animal welfare organisations, the

RSPCA and AWL have a responsibility to correct

fictitious ideals the public have about shelter pets,irrespective of how they were created.

Do Directors of kill shelters do not think that their 

 product is worthy and even superior to market?

Directors of no kill shelters view shelter pets as

desirable and deserving to work hard and spend time

and money to find them homes.

But unfortunately, the advertising of the shelters name

continues and the animals are left behind. No kill

shelters market their product – the dogs and cats. They

market their individual qualities, special attributes,

 beauty and handsomeness, idiosyncratic uniqueness

and exclusive appeal. A shelter pet is very exclusive.

This type of marketing systematically debunks myths

about shelter pets and attracts the public to the shelter 

more than advertising the shelter name. The bestattributes a shelter has is the faces of the dogs and

cats, not a 'trusted' name.

Competition in the market place is healthy, but it is a

myth that the best product will always win. Pet shop

animals are a great example. Pet shop sales are still

high, and a portion of the public still perceive the

animals to be of a superior product. Oscars Law tells

us otherwise.

Marketing shelter pets needs to be revived to adjust

the perceived notion that they are of a lesser quality

and to increase sales.

The first step is to transform a shelters advertising to

 product marketing. The second step is the replace the

Directors who view shelter pets as undesirable and not

worthy of finding them a home.

Promoting Winograd's no kill equation in Australian shelters

  www.pawproject.com.au